Bon Jour, Mes amis

I am feeling a little French today, I was watching Jacques Pepin on a Fast Food My Way cooking segment I had recorded. One of the dishes he did was Ratatouilli (ra-tuh-TOO-ee . He did it with all the summer vegetables we normally have in our garden but he finished it off with parsley. Parsley??? He did suggest, towards the end that a little basil just might be mixed with the parsley and added at the end. It was sort of a , "well, maybe". All these years I had been thinking the only reason for Ratatouille to exist was for the basil. I could not remember anyone ever adding parsley to this dish. Well M'sieur Pepin is certainly more French than I. I don't think any of my ancestors even stopped by France on their way to America, so, I won't argue.

I had to wonder why I was so certain that basil was the only herb to use? Maybe it was what Julia used. In her book, Mastering the Art...., she uses parsley. I then I checked Elizabeth David who often has a different and quite interesting take on these things and, indeed she did. She uses coriander seeds. Going through all my cookbooks the best I could come up with was a Sunset paperback, French Cook Book, which called for 1 teaspoon basil. I can only assume it was written in the days when fresh basil was not available. I could find nothing that would have inspired the basil redolent dish I make each summer. I found a little justification when I got to Wikipedia where they stated that the Provence or Nice housewife would use marjoram and basil or bay and thyme. But I made this dish long before the Wiki existed.

Ratatouille is nothing but a stew of summer vegetables. It is the dish a housewife in Provence or Nice makes from the vegetable she gleaned from her garden in late summer. It was made in quantity, served warm or more often just at room temperature. Stews are developed by cooks who are trying to make a tasty dish with what they have handy therefore each dish is bound to be a little different. I would be willing to bet that any stew you make is nothing like the ones I make, and your neighbor's stew is not even related to my neighbor's. This is how it should be. So, last night I made what I now call a My Ratatouille with what is plentiful in my garden with a few additions from the fridge.

Recipe

My Ratatouille

It seems to be generally agreed that this is a good ratio of vegetables:

1/2 pound eggplant

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions

1/2 pound summer squash (choose from zucchini, crookneck, pattypan, etc)

1 sliced Bell pepper (usually green, but I prefer red)

2 cloves garlic finely minced

1 pound firm ripe tomatoes

You will also need:

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

herbs ( my choice is a handful of chopped basil

If the eggplant is young and tender, from your own garden, it can probably be cut into 3/4 inch dice as is. If you purchased it from the market the skin may be tough and you will have to peel it first. After it has been cut, place in a colander and salt it generously.

If the summer squash is young and tender you won't have to peel that either, cut as you did the eggplant. The onion needs to be in very thin slices. The pepper should be halved lengthwise, cleaned, then halved crosswise and sliced. The garlic minced.

Rinse the eggplant and pat it dry. In a large, heavy pan heat some olive oil, enough for about an eighth inch layer. When the oil is almost to the smoking point add the eggplant, lower the heat to moderate and cook, not stirring, until it starts to color. When the bottom layer has a little color, stir, then add the summer squash and onions, peppers, garlic and half the tomatoes. Lower the heat to moderately low and continue cooking, stirring every 5 minutes or so until the vegetables are softened, about 20 minutes. Add the rest of the tomatoes and with a very low heat cook until all the vegetables are cooked through.

Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed. There will be what looks like a lot of liquid in the pan. I have found that on setting, this liquid is reabsorbed. This dish should be very moist, but not soupy. About 5 minutes before the dish is finished, add a generous amount of chopped a chopped herb. When serving, garnish with the same. (If you have chosen to use bay and thyme, add that when you add the summer squash group and remove the bay leaf here.)

Tips

At the right is a photo of my dinner. I dressed some mini ziti with the Ratatouille added some browned ham logs and some Kalamata olives to make an entire meal.

I purchased the red pepper. My peppers will be lucky to get to pickable green this summer.

Do not pass this dish by because you don't like eggplant. Most eggplant heaters (and they are legion) actually like this dish. The trick is to get the eggplant very well cooked so that it all but disintegrates. (And just don't mention it has eggplant in it until much later. It is "summer veggies".)

French women prefer not to serve this vegetable dish the same day it is made, instead they let the flavors "ripen" a day or so before serving.

This dish needs to be stored in the refrigerator, of course, but should be served warm or at room temperature. Remove it from the refrigerator in good time to remove any chill and allow the flavors to open.

Jacques Pepin suggests using the Ratatouille as a base on which to serve fish, poached or fried.

Be generous with the pepper.